Jimmy Butler is relieved to be with the Philadelphia 76ers following his trade from the Minnesota Timberwolves.

“Night and day,” Butler said of his new situation.

Butler's contract situation and an indifference toward Minnesota's roster is what led to his trade request.

“Ben [Simmons] sees the game steps ahead, and Joel [Embiid] is a monster inside. So I’m envisioning what we can be,” Butler said.

“We learned a lot from our series against the Celtics, and we felt we needed Jimmy,” owner Josh Harris told The Athletic. “Since last summer, we’ve felt we needed a third elite talent. You don’t get a chance to get this talent every day. Jimmy wants to win, and Joel and Ben want to win. That’s the bottom line.”

“Players win championships,” Elton Brand said. “I kind of understand what Jerry (Krause) meant. But those players are out there playing. And now we have three stars and role players, which we are still looking to add to.”

Glen Taylor is relieved the Minnesota Timberwolves have finally traded Jimmy Butler and resolved a volatile situation that went on for weeks.

“It consumed too much of my time on things that were negative,” Taylor said.

Taylor thinks Robert Covington and Dario Saric can become key members of the Wolves for the long-term.

“That’s why when that possibility worked out that I thought that was better than some of the other ones that might have included a (draft) pick or something like that,” Taylor said. “Of course, we love picks, but I thought that we immediately probably better bring a group together and these two guys seem to fit in.”

Taylor said he has some regrets about trading for Butler from the Bulls in the first place.

“I just never anticipated that this would play out like that,” Taylor said. “To me, I thought we were helpful to him, because he said he wanted to get out of Chicago, so I thought we were helpful. We certainly gave Chicago some really good young players. (Butler) came here with expectations that he would help lead the team, not only with scoring, but with his experience that he would share with our young guys and we got behind that.”

Taylor also felt Minnesota “wasted some time” trying to convince Butler to reconsider and play the year out.

Taylor said he still has faith in Thibodeau to lead the Timberwolves organization, because he “can’t believe he ever thought any of these things would happen.”

“Because he’s a guy that spoke for Jimmy and did all that type of stuff, I know that he is really hurt that this thing happened,” Taylor said.

With Jimmy Butler traded by the Minnesota Timberwolves, Karl-Anthony Towns has returned to cracking jokes postgame. Towns is described by teammates as goofy.

Towns is welcoming the change to help the Wolves get back to having fun.

"All those teams I was on that were successful were the ones that everyone had love for each other and had fun," Towns said. "Things that seem minuscule -- joking around, laughing, conversing, all those things that seem childish -- that is what builds camaraderie."

"I think you're going to see a different Karl-Anthony Towns," Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said. "It kind of frees him up to be who he is and play the way he plays. Obviously, that was kind of a tough situation."

The future of Tom Thibodeau as head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves is uncertain as they move into a new phase without Jimmy Butler.

The Wolves were the No. 8 seed last season.

Glen Taylor is known to be very fond of Fred Hoiberg as a potential coaching candidate, who coincidentally replaced Thibodeau with the Bulls.

Ryan Saunders, who is an assistant coach on Thibodeau's staff, is also held in high regard by Taylor.

Glen Taylor considered firing Tom Thibodeau and Scott Layden during the offseason, even before the Jimmy Butler situation escalated.

Taylor continues to consider the possibility of replacing both Thibodeau and Layden.

Thibodeau and Layden are under considerable pressure for the Wolves to produce dividends on this trade of Butler with the Philadelphia 76ers.

Thibodeau has prioritized short-term gains over the longer view management typically takes since joining the Wolves.

The Miami Heat never returned to Jimmy Butler trade discussions with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Wolves passed on a deal before the season that would have included Josh Richardson.

Richardson has had an excellent start to the 18-19 season, which presumably decreased Miami's motivations to make a trade for Butler.

The Minnesota Timberwolves held extensive trade discussions with the New Orleans Pelicans centered on Jimmy Butler over the past week.

The Pelicans are desperate to add another star to their core with Anthony Davis.

But the Pelicans refused to include Jrue Holiday or any draft picks in their offer.

The Wolves ultimately traded Butler to the Philadelphia 76ers.

Jimmy Butler received praise from Karl-Anthony Towns following his trade from the Minnesota Timberwolves to the Philadelphia 76ers.

"He's one hell of a player," Towns said Sunday. "I don't know how many Jimmy Butlers there are in the world, so I think he'll be missed."

Towns spent most of the past two months downplaying any friction with Butler.

"I learned a lot of things from him," Andrew Wiggins said of Butler. "We made the playoffs, something we haven't done in a long, long time. So I think it was a positive either way you put it."

The Philadelphia 76ers have agreed to acquire Jimmy Butler and Justin Patton from the Minnesota Timberwolves for Robert Covington, Dario Saric, Jerryd Bayless and a 2022 second round pick.

Butler has had a standing trade request since September.

Butler plans on re-signing with the 76ers in the offseason on a long-term deal.

The 76ers were scheduled to enter 2019 with enough cap space to sign a max free agent.

The Minnesota Timberwolves will continue to mix in occasional games of "scheduled rest" for Jimmy Butler while he remains in limbo following his trade request.

Butler and the Wolves jointly agreed to that plan coming into the season, as well as for him to have a loose limit of 32 minutes.

Both Butler and the Wolves want to minimize his injury risk after Glen Taylor promised him they'd try to accommodate his trade request.

By most reports, trade talks involving Butler largely remain dormant after he was nearly traded before the start of the season.